I have developed swallowing issues over the last four months. I noticed months ago that I was having problems swallowing my pills then after a long severe seizure in May I started having issues with food getting stuck in my throat and then liquids would cause a lot of coughing. It has gotten so bad that they have placed a feeding tube. I have had an endoscopy done and they didn’t really see anything abnormal. I have done a swallow study and it showed the muscles are no longer working together properly so it takes food a long time to go down to the stomach. We are now trying to figure out if this is the FND causing this or if it is the collapsed disks in my neck. Have any of you had your swallowing affected by your FND and if so what was your treatment? I really don’t want to have a permanent feeding tube placed if there is another option.
swallowing problems: I have developed... - Functional Neurol...
swallowing problems
I do have swallowing trouble as a symptom, but not nearly as sever as what you describe. Many of my symptoms cycle or come and go. I hope this gets better for you!
Thank you for your response, I keep hoping that this will get better.
That sounds difficult, I as yet don't have that problem. I'm biting my tongue while eating, it doesn't like it, getting quite sore. Also loud hiccups which continues until I finish what I'm eating or drinking. I had my first cleaner person yesterday, she also helped chop up my veg for soup in freezer, as my hands not listening to what I want, loss of fine motor skills. Don't know what to suggest, I'm sure that you keep food soft and small. Hope you find an answer soon! Take care. Moni
Hi I have Motor FND so my issues are all about muscles/ligaments/tendons and joints not coordinating. But it also affects the internal muscles coordination from time to time - so yes you can have some issues swallowing with FND, though what you describe are your symptoms are too severe to be just FND.
There are several different Neuro conditions which affect swallowing, Cerebral Palsy, Parkinsons, Multiple Sclerosis, Thyroid, head injury and spinal injuries to name a few.
I would say your crushed neck discs are the main issue here; with nerves being physically compromised and therefore not getting correct blood supply & signals through to the throat muscles. Clearly your medical professionals are doing what they can, but have you thought about neck position when trying to eat?
Recently I knew of someone with a Thymoma (a tumour on the Thyroid) and they were having trouble eating/swallowing, tilting the chin up to extend the neck and increase the alignment of the oesophagus a little when eating did help them.
Seriously I would get a second opinion on the neck discs and if anything can be done to improve posture/nerve signal strength and placement, if you want to come off the feeding tube. It is a fact, the longer the muscles do not get signals the more likely they are to forget what is normal, with ever limited recovery outcomes.
Look for the calm in the Storm!
I have worked with a speech therapist on neck and chin positioning with swallowing with no success. I am currently trying to get in sooner to the neurosurgeon to have my neck fixed but it has taken 5 months to get an appointment with her (the US has a slow process all dictated by our private insurance) and I am really hoping permanent damage has not been done. I have already lost function of my left leg and foot do to nerves being compressed for too long, turns out they don't like to return to normal function after awhile.Thanks for your response.
Hi if affecting your leg, while could indicate all to do with your neck issues, it could be something else as well; they have ruled out Multiple Sclerosis have they? Only I had forgotten that swallowing is one of the issues with MS disease, both relapsing and remitting types and of course you can have more than one condition happening at once. And MS does take around 3 years of monitoring to get a fairly confident diagnosis.
Suggest you check out these sites for common symptoms:
Good luck
Look for the calm in the Storm!
Good morning.
I developed some swallowing issues a bit over a year ago. Unknown as to why the - other than another FND symptom. I went to Speech Therapy. I do not have a functional reason other than very minor coordination of swallowing muscles sequence. Unknown before swallowing test, I have some structural quirks in my throat and neck that make swallowing less efficient.
I learned several little tricks to promote safe swallowing and reduce cloaking. I have alter my diet a little. Quick examples:
- I use apple sauce to help certain foods slide down.
- take a drink of water before eating a mouthful and afterwards.
- eat slowly, lots of chewing (I am soo slow now)
- avoid talking while eating
- avoid dry foods. No popcorn or tortilla chips. No rice. No raw veggies. Cook veggies more.
- small bites
- use sauces and gravies.
As a result, I have cut chocking episodes down a solid 75%.
I hope you find a solution. Again, my issues were far more minor than yours.
HenriettaPoultryFoot
Thanks for the hints, I will definitely add in the gravy and sauces to see if that makes a difference. I do many of the things you listed already but not the sauces and gravies.
Have you ever had your thyroid levels checked? FreeT3, FreeT4, T3, TSH and Antibodies. I suffered many years with difficulties swallowing actually choking only to discover years later it was thyroid induced. Its worth looking into.
Thank you, I will have these checked it is good to know there might be another issue going on.
I'm so sorry to hear your symptoms are so severe. I have had issues swallowing for the last 2 years and regularly start gagging on food. I always eat now with a drink to hand to help the food down.
I did some negative pressure breathing exercises and that seemed to help, but it's a bit difficult to explain. There's an overpriced bit of plastic out there being sold for these exercises, however you can easily use other items to the same effect. You need a mouthpiece, solid plastic is best. If you search PowerBreathe they have old lung trainers that have a hard, removable moulded mouthpiece which is ideal. You could probably use the bottom of a diving snorkel too.
1. Place the mouthpiece in your mouth between your lips and teeth, many of these will have 'bite blocks' to help you keep it in place.
2. Raise your head about 25/ 30 degrees above the horizontal so you are looking slightly up the way.
3. Block off the other end of the mouthpiece (I just used the flat of my hand for this, please don't stuff anything in that could be sucked out down your throat)
4. Try to breathe in, with a sucking action against the blocked mouthpiece whilst keeping your head raised.
5. If you get it right you'll feel the muscles in your throat become activated.
6. Hold that tight feeling for 10 seconds.
7. Unblock / take out the tube for 3 seconds and take a breath.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for a total of 3 times.
9. Repeat this set of 3 , 3 times daily, morning, afternoon and night.
10 it'll take up very little time but is very effective.
I wish you the best of luck with your recovery.
Thank you for the explanation on the breathing exercises, I will give it a try.
My recent episode started with swallowing difficultyI also have had many spinal surgeries.
I had a 4-level cervical fusion which failed.
I developed an infection and was on antibiotics for two years
I had a scapula fixation on ribs, but after 15 years created a thoracic spine problem, which has led to my current condition, I believe.
Now my abdominals are paralyzed or extremely weak, and so is my middle and lower back.
They told me I have marked atrophy of periscapular and paraspinal muscles.
I get worse every day and was; king now is almost impossible.
I cannot stop googling symptoms. It is driving me insane.
I know some of my symptoms are caused by stress, but some are not.
It's hard to tell the difference anymore
Thank you for all your responses. Since my last post I have been hospitalized for 8 days and they finally placed a temporary feeding tube. After this was placed I had several other swallowing tests and I have been diagnosed with Jackhammer Esophagus, because this is a disorder of how the muscles and nerves work together (or don’t work) my doctors are saying this is probably a symptom of FND. My problems have worsen so I am having a semi permanent feeding tube placed next week.
I have a severe problem of dysphagia as you describe. Actually, I only eat semi-liquid and liquid food.As far as I know, there is no treatment for this FND symptoms.
The major problem is malnutrition, so I have a dietician to help me
I know, it's difficult to live with
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